The Denomination Problem and the Social Embeddedness of Small Money

• In Event: 571 - Section on Economic Sociology Roundtables (one-hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 04. The Embeddedness of Exchange

Abstract

This paper considers the manner in which the materiality of money and the production of liquidity introduces cultural resources for forming and maintaining social ties. To demonstrate this, I present a problem endogenous to fractional currencies, referred to as the "denomination problem," and argue that the process of solving this problem is an example of the social production of liquidity. Actors work with others to "make change" or alter the terms of the exchange when small denominations are sparse. This work of producing liquidity, I argue, is employed as a resource when doing relational work – that is forming, distinguishing and maintaining distinct social ties. I situate such production in a simple framework that expands on the well-known weak/strong tie dichotomy to include "fleeting" and "disposable" ties as well as two “provisional” social ties. The latter demonstrate the dynamic nature of formation and maintenance, which I label "developing" and "dissolving" social ties. Accomplishing the appropriate social distance within a particular tie involves the manipulation of the characteristics of producing liquidity. The two characteristics I highlight are (1) delay, or the time it takes to reciprocate and (2) correspondence, or how explicitly connected the repayment is to the original exchange. To flesh out this framework, I draw on ethnographic data from 12 months of fieldwork in a small city in northwestern Azerbaijan.

Author

• Dustin S. Stoltz, University of Notre Dame